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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28059657">In the Game of Love</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sky__4__Forever/pseuds/Sky__4__Forever'>Sky__4__Forever</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Once Upon a Time (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>12, And doesn't think things through, Anyway Y/N is angsty, Cheating, Confusion, Except don't read it, I wrote it when I was, Like, Miscommunication, Oof dudes, Reader-Insert, Running Away, and it shows, idk what else to say, this is cringey</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:06:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,384</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28059657</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sky__4__Forever/pseuds/Sky__4__Forever</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After Y/N catches Peter and Wendy kissing, she flees Neverland. But Peter was determined to find Y/N and bring her home.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Peter Pan (Once Upon a Time) &amp; Original Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>In the Game of Love</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Request: Can you do one where the main character runs away from Neverland and has Wendy in it? Thx! 😋</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Wendy, aka jerk, boyfriend-stealer, love rival, plastic, fake, and miss much-prettier-than-Y/N. But, of course, everyone loved Wendy. They're all like, "Oh, a second girl on Neverland, and this one's so much hotter than Y/N!" I don't seem to matter anymore, even Peter ignores me. Heck, my best friend, Felix, ignores me! He's so smitten with Wendy he didn't even bother to reply when I said good morning. Not even the Shadow will talk to me. He's not making goo-goo eyes at her, but he's taken an interest in who she is.</p><p>Maybe Neverland is satisfied with just Wendy. Maybe it doesn't truly need it's first lost girl. Peter certainly doesn't need me. Maybe... maybe they would be happier if I left Neverland. Would they even notice my absence? Eventually, they would, in a few days. Maybe one person will say, "Hey, there's more food here than usual. Who's not eating?" And then they'll realize they have one less mouth to feed and be happy.</p><p>Maybe I should leave Neverland.</p><p>I should leave Neverland.</p><p>I'm leaving Neverland.</p><p>The dagger landed silently on top of my extra clothes. The basket's almost full... what else do I really need? How about a souvenir of some sort? I glanced around the room, and my eye came to rest on a rose Peter had given me before Wendy showed up. That was my souvenir.</p><p>My feet padded through the dirt of the jungles of Neverland. On and on and on, one foot in front of the other, until I reached my destination: the sea. It was calm and made no sounds that would give any clue that mermaids lived in these parts. I wasn't fooled, though.</p><p>"Come out, I know you're there." The mermaids followed my command. They had learned I was just as dangerous as Peter was.</p><p>One with brown hair and a green tail spoke first. "Have you any word of that girl, Wendy? Or is that what this is about."</p><p>I shook my head. "Wendy took my place. Neverland has no need for me anymore. When Peter finally realizes I'm gone, if he realizes I'm gone, tell him that."</p><p>"We will. Gone, hmm? I suppose you want us to transport you to the Enchanted Forest, or the land without magic?" A blue-tailed mermaid approached, her wild blonde hair fanned out around her.</p><p>"The Enchanted Forest, if you will." My tone was dark, just like that if the mermaids.</p><p>The blue-tailed mermaid offered her hand, glaring at me all the way. As for me, I drew my dagger and approached, taking her hand. I wanted her to know not to try anything.</p><p>The water rippled around us, but not from my movement, from magic. The dark, forbidding blue turned vibrant. It pulsed as if it were a living thing of its own.</p><p>That's when I heard him.</p><p>"Y/N! Y/N! NO! WAIT!"</p><p>Peter's voice cut through the night air like a knife. The breeze around me built and the water flowed ever brighter as the transportation spell continued. And it wasn't going to stop.</p><p>He broke through the foliage, looked around, and met my eyes just as the wind rushed and the ocean swallowed me and the mermaid whole.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~+~</p>
</div><p>I broke the surface with a gag and a lot of coughing. Around the cove where the blue-tailed mermaid and I arrived were trees: lots and lots of trees. And rocks. And dirt. In fact, there were so few landmarks that I had no idea where I was.</p><p>Peter! He had wanted me to come back! I had to return to Neverland! Now!</p><p>I turned around in the water, my legs exhausted from keeping me above the surface. "Take me back! Take me back to Neverland!"</p><p>The mermaid shook her head. "With you gone, there's one less threat to the mermaids. Have a good time in the Enchanted Forest, Y/N."</p><p>With that cold message, she dove under the sea, leaving me alone, scared, cold, and lost. What do I do? Maybe I should just think simplistically. The shore, the shore is good. And then... food. I should get food, to do that I need a weapon. I can make a weapon, those are easy. Yeah, I can do this. Food... after I get food, I should get a place to sleep. A lean-to... yeah, that'd be good.</p><p>I followed through with the plan I made and then collapsed inside the lean-to. It seemed odd to think that the last time the sun had been out, I was on Neverland. The next time the sun shone, I'd be here. Now, I'll age. I hadn't thought about that, that I'll get old here. How long had it been since I left the Enchanted Forest? What had happened while I was gone? If Peter ever found me, would it be when I was old? Would he still care about me when I was all grown up? What will I look like when I'm grown up? Now, I'll know. I wonder what Peter would have looked like if he had decided to grow up? Would he maybe stay here and we can answer that question together? Would I ever answer these questions?</p><p>It just so happens that I would answer some of them, but not for a long time.</p><p>~+~</p><p>Another morning came upon the small farm on the outskirts of the kingdom, where I had settled down. Years and years had passed and I had become an adult, in my 40s. Neverland had never really been my priority after 3 years, and thoughts of Peter Pan and his lost boys remained in the back of my mind, always there, but never in the limelight.</p><p>That is, until that Tuesday morning when I went out to fetch water, and I saw a peculiar speck of green in the sky, coming towards the farm, faster and faster, getting bigger and bigger! And that's when the memories of Neverland and Peter came back to me. As they should, because when the green speck finally landed in front of me, it was not a green speck. It was Peter.</p><p>"Peter?" I hardly dared to speak, as if the sound would shatter the moment.</p><p>"Y/N." His green eyes met mine. They're even greener than I remember. "You've... aged. You're an adult."</p><p>No. No, no, no, no, no! I've aged! I can't go back to Neverland as an adult, I can't be with Peter as an adult! "I... " words barely seemed to convey what I felt as I realized my only hope was done for.</p><p>And that's when he surprised me. He kept forward and hugged me, tighter than I would have thought possible, before pulling away from me. "Y/N, I love you. I don't care how old you look or how much time has passed because I love you, so, so much. Please, come back to Neverland."</p><p>"But I'm an adult, I can't!" I replied hopelessly.</p><p>"But you're not an adult. You're a kid trapped in an adult body." He answered, running his hand down my cheek.</p><p>"No, Peter, I aged. I am an adult!"</p><p>He shook his head. "You're an adult, but your soul is still young, and Neverland knows it. If you come back, you can be a child again."</p><p>"So I have to be young for us to be together?" I wasn't sure if I was happy or sad or angry or offended. That's the way emotions are sometimes, and it can become hard to tell where one feeling ends and the next one begins.</p><p>Peter looked at me sadly. His eyes were all that showed how hurt he was. "No, Y/N. But don't you want to come back to Neverland? You could be exactly as you were, there haven't been any changes in Neverland besides that you aren't training lost boys and you haven't been giving orders. It can be as perfect as it was!"</p><p>No changes? "Then what about Wendy?"</p><p>Peter laughed and shook his head. "Wendy? Oh, she's long gone. The idiot fell off a cliff when she was trying to boss the lost boys around. And before you ask, no, she had no authority. We're all relieved she's gone, truthfully. So, will you come home, Y/N?"</p><p>"I... yes. Yes, I'll come home."</p>
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